The Painful Past
by Cartoonatic55
Summary: She was 14, and he was 16. They were forcefully separated for 16 years, but when they came back together, she had a confession to make... An AU story about Cream's father. T for cursing, some violence and sexual themes later on.
1. Memories

**_Alright. This idea has been bugging me for too long. I'm finally gonna write this thing, but before I do I want to go over a few things first._**

**_1: This is an alternate universe fic. (That's what AU stands for, in case you didn't know.) That means this takes place in a separate universe from the canon universe(s). Meaning if this story bends certain rules such as time gaps, it is permissible since it is in another universe where such things are possible._**

**_2: According to the information I have gathered about the Sonic series, Vanilla was 14 when she gave birth to Cream. In this story, Cream is at the age of 16, making her mother 30._****_ However, in any flashbacks before Cream's birth, Vanilla will be at the age of 14 unless otherwise specified._**

**_3: I own neither the Sonic cast nor the Kung Fu Panda cast. The characters and places within this story belong to their respectful owners._**

**_Anyway, enjoy._**

* * *

**_The Painful Past_**

_Chapter 1_

_Memories_

"Mom, I'm home!"

Vanilla looked up from where she was sitting at the table with her reading glasses halfway down her nose. She looked up at her cheerful daughter, Cream, who was just coming in through the door after coming home from school. Her chao, Cheese, was hovering by her side. She smiled up at her daughter and placed the crossword puzzle she had been working on to the far left so it would remain out of her sight as she spoke to the young, bright-eyed teen.

"Hello, my dear," she crooned sweetly. "How was school?"

"It was great," she said cheerfully. She rushed over to her mother and immediately threw her arms around her. Vanilla laughed as she hugged her only child back.

"I'm glad," she whispered. As Cream left her mother's embrace, Cheese started to whimper a bit.

_"Choo,"_ he cried sadly. Cream turned to her little friend and gasped.

"Oh that's right! I haven't fed you yet, have I?"

_"Choo,"_ he cried again as he shook his head.

"Don't worry," Cream giggled. "I'll find you something to eat." With a quick turn of her heel, she spun around and skipped happily into the kitchen with Cheese following shortly behind her. Vanilla stared in the direction of where her child was standing a moment ago, she gave a happy sigh and she returned again to her crossword puzzle. But she didn't work on it long for soon she heard her daughter calling her from the kitchen.

"Mom?"

"Yes, Cream?"

"We were asked to do a project."

"Oh, is that so? What kind of a project?"

Cream came in and looked at her mother, who was looking down at her puzzle and trying to work on it and listen to her at the same time. "A family tree," she answered.

Vanilla suddenly stopped. She looked up at her daughter, eyes widened in surprise. "A family- tree?," she repeated hesitantly.

Cream slowly nodded. "Yes; a family tree. One with every relative that we can remember."

"Oh," she sighed sadly. She tried her best to look at her daughter, but for some reason she couldn't. She looked down and away from her and she stared at the nearby wall. She was silent for a moment, then she finally asked. "Every member?"

"Yes," Cream answered softly.

"Does that include... Your... Father?," she asked hesitantly. She struggled to get the words out, but she did the best she could.

Quietly, Cream answered, "Yes." She stared silently at her mother with a sad look on her face. She knew that bringing up the subject of her father would be a painful subject. It always was. Whenever she asked about her father in the past, she would always become saddened and she would merely say, "We were separated... A long time ago... In a place very far from here." And that was all. Until now she never questioned it since she disliked seeing her mother so upset, but now she needed to know the whole story. She pulled up a nearby chair and sat next to her. She gently put her gloved hand over her mother's and looked at her face with deep concern.

"Mother, you can tell me," she whispered. "I'm old enough now. I'm ready to hear the truth."

Vanilla sighed, almost in tears. "I know you are," she whispered tearfully. "But I don't know if I can bring myself to-"

"Mom," she interrupted softly. Vanilla looked up into her daughter's concerned face. "If you need me to leave you alone for a minute, all you have to do is ask. Okay?"

Vanilla, who was now crying the first of her tears, took a handkerchief out of her front pocket and gently dried the tears from her face. "I think that would be best for the moment," she breathed.

Cream gave her mom a small, crooked smile. "Okay," she whispered. She stood up, pushed the chair back, and walked quietly up to her room. As she did, Vanilla tried her best to stop crying, but no matter what she did, she couldn't stop. Her mind kept taking her back to that one night so many years ago. Back where it all began...

* * *

_March, 1993_

_It was towards the end of winter over a peaceful little town in a far-off valley on a warm night. The moon was glowing silently and the stars were shining brightly down on a cloudless evening. It was a quiet night, and she was on her way to meet someone. She was fourteen, and she had promised to meet a friend of hers by a special tree that overlooked the valley. He was a very special friend, and she wouldn't let him down for the world. She ran as fast as she could up the dirt path that led to the special tree, and there he was, just like he promised. She slowed down at the sight of him. The moonlight shone down on his fur in such a way that it seemed like he had come to life from a moonbeam. He was sixteen, and she was very much in love with him. He turned to face her and he smiled as he did._

_"I knew you were coming," he said gently._

_"You heard me, huh?," she giggled._

_He smiled. "You'd be surprised with what I can hear."_

_"Maybe I would and maybe I wouldn't," she laughed teasingly. She slowly approached him, taking each step with caution until she eventually came close enough to him to where she could easilly slip her hand into his. She looked at him and smiled sweetly, but his smile turned into a worried expression._

_"Does your father know that you're out here?," he asked._

_She playfully leaned into his side and let her cheek brush gently against his. "No," she answered playfully. She let her other hand gently flow down his other side in order to find his other hand, but he pulled away before she could reach it._

_"You mean, he doesn't know that you're out here?," he asked worryingly._

_"My dad doesn't need to know everything that's going on in my life," she told him._

_"Well, does anybody else know that you're out here?"_

_"Of course, silly! You do," she giggled as she playfully grabbed ahold of his other hand and leaned forward far enough for her nose to come in contact with his._

_"Vanilla," he sighed in an annoyed tone._

_"What?"_

_"You can be so immature sometimes."_

_"I'm not immature, Xang! I'm 14!"_

_"Well that doesn't make you an adult."_

_"It doesn't make me a little girl, either."_

_"Good point," he sighed. He looked worryingly at her face and noticed how close they were. He bashfully turned away from her, but she continued to lean against him and she leaned in just a bit further to gently kiss him on the cheek. When she drew back a bit, she noticed that his bright blue eyes had widened with surprise. She gently smiled and whispered his name._

_"Xang."_

_Gently, he curled his fingers so now he had a soft but firm grip on hers. He slowly turned his face to hers so that now they were almost touching noses again. He looked at her face, which was now glowing brightly with the moonlight, and he whispered her name._

_"Vanilla."_

_As soon as he said this, they both gently closed their eyes and leaned in toward one another to exchange the first of the many kisses that they would share that night._

* * *

Vanilla sighed as she wiped away the tears that the night had brought so many times before. She looked down at her hands as she remembered how they used to hold hands. She took a deep breath and she quietly sighed the name that had brought up all these memories.

"Xang."


	2. A Past Retold Part 1

_**Ah, I noticed that I have a review. Why was I not informed of this? Anyway, I might as well respond.**_

**_Herr Wozzeck (I hope that's right): I'm glad you reviewed, and I suppose it's alright if you read it even if you haven't seen KFP yet, but I think it'd be better if you did watch it because things might get really confusing if you don't. (And by the way, I'm a girl.)_**

* * *

_**The Painful Past**_

_Chapter 2:_

_A Past Retold, Part 1_

The next day, Cream woke up and went to school avoiding as much contact with her mother as possible. She felt responsible for what had happened yesterday and she didn't want to make her mother feel any worse. The only time she said anything to her was when she said goodbye, to which her mother only nodded as she sadly sat at the table staring blankly at her sudoku puzzle. Cream walked solemnly down the sidewalk as she stared sadly at her feet. She couldn't help but feel guilty for what her mother was feeling. She knew it would be painful, but she didn't know why. Cheese, who had his own special pocket in her backpack, looked up at her with concern. He didn't like seeing his best friend and master so upset, for it made him feel sad as well. He gently tugged on one of her ears a bit.

_"Choo?,"_ he cooed quietly. Cream turned her head to see her little friend and gave him a small, sad smile.

"It's okay, Cheese," she reassured him. "It's not that big of a deal."

Just then, a bright, blue streak rushed by her, blowing her ears out from behind her and nearly knocking her down onto her feet. She let out a gasp in surprise, but she had a very good sense of balance so she managed to prevent herself from falling. The blue blur that had passed her stopped almost immediately at a bench at the end of the street. It was Sonic, now eighteen, and still as laid back as he always was. Cream straightened her ears and pushed them back behind her before she went to stand next to her speedy friend. As she did, an orange, two-tailed fox came flying by. It was Tails, also eighteen, and he was panting as he tried to catch up with Sonic.

"Sonic, wait up!," he shouted after him.

"Come on, Tails. I can't wait for you all day!," he joked.

"Maybe if you learned to be more patient, you would," Cream giggled.

"Patience? Ha! Who needs it?," he chuckled with a shrug.

"Well, it would be nice if you didn't treat everything like a race," Tails sighed as he sat on the nearby bench. Cream nodded in agreement.

"Hey, I don't treat _everything_ like it's a race!," he argued.

Tails smiled. "Yeah, you're right; you treat your homework more like you're handling a poisonous snake."

Sonic frowned. "Do not!"

"Well, you're never really happy about touching it," he laughed.

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever. Speaking of homework; Cream, do you guys still have to do that family tree project in History?"

Cream frowned for she suddenly remembered why she was so upset before. She gripped one of the straps of her orange backpack and turned away from him. "Yes," she sighed sadly.

Sonic was surprised; not so much by her answer, but rather the way she was acting about it. "Hey, Cream, are you okay?"

"Yeah," she sighed.

Sonic frowned. "Cream, don't lie to me; I know that you're upset."

Tails got up from the bench and stood by her side, for he knew exactly what was bothering her. "It's about your dad, right?"

Cream sniffled a bit. She wasn't crying, but she felt like she was about to any second. She just nodded.

"Oh yeah, that's right," Sonic remembered. "You never met him, did you?"

Cream looked at the both of them with an upset look on her face. "Look, I don't want to talk about it right now, okay?"

Understandingly, the two boys nodded. For a moment, they just stood there silently until Sonic suggested that they should get going since the school was only a few blocks away. The two of them nodded in agreement and they all walked to school.

* * *

Many hours later, Cream silently came home to see her mother trying work on a crossword puzzle at her spot at the table.

"I'm home," she stated quietly as she closed the door.

"So I noticed," Vanilla replied plainly.

She looked over at her mother as she took off her backpack and gently set it in the corner behind the door. She had hoped that her mother would say something else, but she didn't. "Mom?"

"Yes?"

Cream looked down at her shoes. She didn't prepare this, and she was worried that she may upset her mother even more than she did before, but she had to do it. She had to know the truth about her father, and the only way she could learn about him was through her. "I... I was hoping that now you would be able to... You know... Talk about my father." She looked up to see if she now had her attention, and she did. Her eyes were wide with a bit of fear behind them, but this time she saw no trace of her tears, a thing which Cream took as a small and hopeful sign. She slowly walked across the room and sat next to her mother, giving her a small smile. Her mother looked at her with deep concern.

"Are you sure you will be able to handle what I tell you?"

Cream just smiled. "Mom, I'm sixteen; I'm not a child anymore. I can take it."

Vanilla sighed heavily. "Alright; if you're sure." She took her puzzle and set it aside to a place where it would be out of her sight and thus less distracting. She turned to her daughter and started to talk. "Do you remember how I told you that your grandfather had to travel a lot for his work?"

She nodded. "Yes, I remember. You said that he used to take you and grandma all around the world and that you always seemed to be moving from one country to another."

"Well, there was one time when he was told that he had to move to a small place in China called the Valley of Peace. It was a nice, peaceful little town, filled with friendly creatures and quaint little shops around every corner. It was somewhat of an enchanting place to me because everyone almost always seemed to be smiling or in a cheerful mood, and they always seemed to be happy even when they were doing hard work, and on special occasions, everyone would merrily gather in a place called the Jade Palace to celebrate whatever the occasion was. Everything was always so colorful with paper dragons and confetti and colored paper lanterns."

Cream smiled as she tried to picture such a place in her mind. "It must've been very beautiful," she said blissfully.

Her mother nodded. "It was very beautiful," she whispered with a smile. "It was at one of these special occasions that I met your father."

She looked surprisingly at her mother. "Really? How did it happen?"

"It was the first day that we came to the valley, and all of the locals were headed up towards the Jade Palace to celebrate the anniversary of the town. We had just arrived and we had no idea where we were going to stay, so the three of us headed up there in an effort to find someone who would know. My father did most of the talking while my mother and I just followed along only speaking when my father introduced us to someone. After a while, though, while I was looking around at all the sights, I suddenly lost sight of my parents and now I was lost. I walked around, calling out for them and hoping they would find me, but instead I found him."

* * *

_"Mom?! Dad?! Where are you?!," she shouted, but her shouting was drowned out by the cheers and whistles of the roaring crowd. She looked around in hopes of catching a glipse of her parents, but she had no such luck. "My dad is going to kill me for this," she mumbled to herself. As she walked, she turned her head and shouted again, "Mom?!" As she did, she accidentally bumped into someone. She gasped and backed up a bit, realizing what she had foolishly done. "I'm sorry," she apologised._

_"No, that's alright," she heard him apologise._

_She turned her head to see who or what she had run into. __Her eyes widened. He was a furry, white creature of some sort with big blue eyes and a mahogany nose. He had large, almost cat-like ears with dark brown tips and insides and he had dark brown circles around his eyes that were separated by a strip of white between them. He wore a red kimono with black edges and had silver and gold waves embroidered at the ends of the sleeves that covered his dark brown arms. He wore some sort of beige-colored tights that seemed to cover his legs and his feet and he wore brown sandals. He also had a fluffy tail that was mostly white but it had bands of dark brown around it. He was unlike anything she had ever seen before. She couldn't stop staring at him not only because he was different, but because for some reason she found him undeniably cute. She immediately started to blush when his eyes met hers as she secretly hoped that he didn't notice how she was staring at him._

_"I'm Vanilla, by the way," she told him. "Vanilla Rabbit."_

_"Oh," he said. "Well, my name is Xang; Xang Li Shifu." He gave a slight bow of respect, which made her blush even more._

_"You don't have to do that just for me," she giggled._

_Xang rose up again as he himself started to blush a bit too. "Sorry," he apologised. "It's a bit of a habit of mine."_

_Not wanting to seem offended, she quickly added, "But it was a nice thing to do." She put one of her hands against her cheek and it felt very warm. She smiled meekly. "I'm sorry that I'm blushing so much. I guess I'm not that used to talking to boys yet. Especially not ones I just met."_

_Xang smiled. "That's okay," he chuckled in an understanding tone. "I'm not that used to talking to girls yet, either."_

_Vanilla smiled. "So, I guess this is something new for both of us," she laughed._

_"I guess so."_

_All of the sudden, she heard a voice calling. "Vanilla!"_

_She quickly turned to where she heard the voice coming from, for she knew who it was. "Uh-oh."_

_"Who's that?," Xang asked._

_"My dad," she sighed reluctantly. Her chance meet-up with Xang had made her temporarily forget about her parents. She heard him call her name again, this time more harshly._

_**"VANILLA!"**_

_She turned to look at Xang. "Listen, I've got to go, okay?"_

_Xang nodded thoughtfully. "Okay."_

_She turned around and waved goodbye as she ran in the direction where she heard her father's voice. "It was nice meeting you!," she shouted as she left._

_"Yeah, you too!," she heard him shout back._

_Vanilla smiled. She hadn't been there for more than half an hour and she had already made a new friend! Her mind was continually thinking about this cute, new friend of hers until she made contact with her parents. Her father was scowling down at her, but her mother was so happy to see her that she immediately gave her a hug when she was close enough. "Oh, Vanilla! I'm so glad that we found you!," she cried happily._

_Her father, however, just grunted. "Who was that boy you were talking to?," he questioned arrogantly._

_Vanilla looked up at her father with surprise. She didn't know that he had seen her talking to Xang, and she hoped that he wouldn't, but she had no such luck. "His name is Xang, dad," she explained. "I accidentally ran into him while I was looking for you."_

_Her father snorted. "Did he ask you anything inappropriate?"_

_"Basil!," her mother shouted._

_"No, dad," she sighed in an annoyed tone. He had been constantly warning her of how some men may want to hurt her in some way, but she was smart. She knew better than to let some random guy just take her away, thus why she didn't normally talk to boys. But Xang... He seemed different, somehow. Most of the boys she saw on her travels were mostly jerks, and they always seemed to say some perverted things to her and her friends as they just mind their own business and pass down the street, but Xang didn't seem like the type to do such a thing. He seemed to be almost as nervous as she was when she talked to him, and though they had just met, some part of her couldn't help but to see him as something of a gentleman. As they left, she couldn't help but to look back and see if she could spot him from out of the crowd, and there he was, standing proudly next to an old tortoise with a wooden staff which she would later learn was the great kung fu master Oogway. She smiled._

_'Maybe he is different...'_

_

* * *

_

Cream smiled sweetly as she heard her mother retell the story of how she met her father. "That's so sweet," she sighed.

Vanilla smiled. "I was thirteen at the time we met."

Cream's eyes suddenly widened. "Thirteen?," she repeated in disbelief.

Vanilla nodded. "Yes, and your father was fifteen."

"Fifteen...," Cream repeated under her breath. "But since you were fourteen when you had me, that means that he was sixteen, right?"

Her mother nodded again. "That's right."

She looked at her mother with extreme interest now. "What happened?"

Vanilla took a deep breath and sighed. "Since our meeting, I found out that he lived in a temple on the grounds where the Dragon Scroll was kept."

"The Dragon Scroll?"

"It's a scroll that is said to contain the secret to limitless power. Legend says that only the Dragon Warrior, a warrior with superior kung fu skills that go unsurpassed by others, is the only one who can understand the meaning behind it."

"Oh."

"Your father secretly hoped that he or his fellow kung fu warrior, Tai Lung, would be chosen, but Master Oogway said that neither of them was fit to be the Dragon Warrior."

"You mean that my dad could've been a legendary kung fu master?"

"Yes, but that is beside the point. Anyway, ever since I learned where he lived I secretly left the house whenever I could to see him, and whenever he tried to sneak out of the temple to see me, he would always have his friend, the temple-goose Zeng, cover up his absence for him."

"Wow."

"Yes. Then came the last night we spent together under the Sacred Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom..."

* * *

_It was towards the end of winter over the Valley of Peace on a warm night. The moon was glowing silently and the stars were shining brightly down on a cloudless evening. It was a quiet night, and she was on her way to meet Xang. She was fourteen, and she had promised to meet him by the Sacred Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom, a special tree that Master Oogway had planted many years ago on a ledge that overlooked the valley. Xang was a very special friend, and she wouldn't let him down for the world. She ran as fast as she could up the dirt path that led to the special tree, and there he was, just like he promised. She slowed down at the sight of him. The moonlight shone down on his fur in such a way that it seemed like he had come to life from a moonbeam. He was sixteen, and she was very much in love with him. He turned to face her and he smiled as he did._

_"I knew you were coming," he said gently._

_"You heard me, huh?," she giggled._

_He smiled. "You'd be surprised with what I can hear."_

_"Maybe I would and maybe I wouldn't," she laughed teasingly. She slowly approached him, taking each step with caution until she eventually came close enough to him to where she could easilly slip her hand into his. She looked at him and smiled sweetly, but his smile turned into a worried expression._

_"Does your father know that you're out here?," he asked._

_She playfully leaned into his side and let her cheek brush gently against his. "No," she answered playfully. She let her other hand gently flow down his other side in order to find his other hand, but he pulled away before she could reach it._

_"You mean, he doesn't know that you're out here?," he asked worryingly._

_"My dad doesn't need to know everything that's going on in my life," she told him._

_"Well, does anybody else know that you're out here?"_

_"Of course, silly! You do," she giggled as she playfully grabbed ahold of his other hand and leaned forward far enough for her nose to come in contact with his._

_"Vanilla," he sighed in an annoyed tone._

_"What?"_

_"You can be so immature sometimes."_

_"I'm not immature, Xang! I'm 14!"_

_"Well that doesn't make you an adult."_

_"It doesn't make me a little girl, either."_

_"Good point," he sighed. He looked worryingly at her face and noticed how close they were. He bashfully turned away from her, but she continued to lean against him and she leaned in just a bit further to gently kiss him on the cheek. When she drew back a bit, she noticed that his bright blue eyes had widened with surprise. She gently smiled and whispered his name._

_"Xang."_

_Gently, he curled his fingers so now he had a soft but firm grip on hers. He slowly turned his face to hers so that now they were almost touching noses again. He looked at her face, which was now glowing brightly with the moonlight, and he whispered her name._

_"Vanilla."_

_As soon as he said this, they both gently closed their eyes and leaned in toward one another to exchange the first of the many kisses that they would share that night. When their lips separated, they both smiled at each other and they leaned in again for another kiss, this time Vanilla released her hands from his and she flung her arms around his neck and Xang let his arms wrap themselves around her middle. Vanilla suddenly became very excited and she started giving him quick, light kisses all over his face. Xang was a little surprised by her sudden excitement and he tried to step back to make some room between the two of them, but instead he tripped and stumbled backwards onto the ground and landed on his back and Vanilla with him. Now she was on top of him and she was still lightly brushing her lips against his face. As she slowly came to a stop, she stared lovingly into his eyes and gently whispered, "I love you, Xang."_

_"I love you too, Vanilla," he whispered back. They leaned forward again for a quick kiss on the lips and they stared passionately at each other. They continued to stare silently until Vanilla decided to ask him something._

_"Xang?"_

_"Yes?"_

_"Have you ever... You know__... Had sex before?"_

_His eyes widened. "N-N-No," he stammered. "No, I haven't."_

_"Oh," she sighed. She slowly let her hands stroke all the way down to his sides as she pressed her nose slightly into his. "Have you ever wanted to?," she asked._

_Xang started to breathe heavily. "I-I-I..."_

_She gently let her hand touch his cheek. "With me?"_

_Now he was starting to break out into a sweat. "W-W-With you?," he repeated._

_"Yes, Xang." She now had both of her hands on his cheeks and she gently rubbed noses with him._

_He gulped nervously and tried to look away. "W-Well, I-I, um..."_

_"Xang?"_

_He looked up at her. "Yes?"_

_"Do you want to?"_

_"You mean... You mean, here, now?"_

_She nodded. "Right here, right now."_

_"But-But what if... What if you-"_

_"I'll be fine, Xang. I promise."_

_Xang tried his best to breathe normally, but he couldn't. "Well, if you want to, then I suppose I-"_

_"Xang?"_

_"Yes?"_

_"Just be gentle with me, okay?"_

_"Okay..."_

_

* * *

_"Oh my gosh," Cream breathed. "You mean, _you_ led _him_ on?"

Vanilla nodded sadly. "Yes."

"Wow," she gasped. "And all this time I thought it was the other way around."

Vanilla shook her head. "No."

"So then what happened?"

"We stayed out there until the sun was almost up, but when I got home my dad caught me and from then on I was forced to stay inside the house. A few weeks later, my dad announced that we were moving again, this time to Washington D.C., so we packed up whatever we had and we moved away again."

"Wait a minute. You mean that you didn't see my father after that?"

Vanilla sadly looked down at her lap. "No."

"So, you mean that my own dad doesn't even know that I exist?"

"No," she said sadly, her voice breaking slightly.

Cream gasped. "Oh my gosh," she breathed again. She always assumed that her father actually knew about her, but now that she knew the truth, she was stunned. "Has he ever contacted you after that?"

"No," she said again. She was almost in tears now, but Cream seemed insistent on asking more questions.

"Well, have you ever tried contacting him?"

"No," she said once again. She took her handkerchief from her front pocket and she started to cry into it.

Cream, who was now as upset as her mother since she had made her cry again, almost felt like crying as well. "Oh mom," she sighed sadly. "I'm so sorry." She threw her arms around her mother and buried her face into her shoulder as she began to cry a little. "I had no idea."

Vanilla felt her child's tears against her neck and she handed her a separate hanky she had with her. Cream willingly took it and used it to dry the tears from her face. She had stopped crying, for she now realized what she should have done years ago. "Cream?"

"Yes mom?"

"How would you feel if I were to write your father a letter asking him to meet us?"

Cream removed her face from her mother's neck and looked at her. "Really?," she sniffed.

Vanilla nodded. "Really."

Cream managed to make her lips curl into a small, sad smile. "Okay," she whispered.

* * *

A few days later at the Jade Palace, Zeng the goose was going through an assortment of scrolls that were meant for Po, Tai Lung, Shifu and the Furious Five, all written by admirers from throughout China. However, one caught his eye in particular. It was unlike the others, for it was in a rectangular envelope. "What's this?," he asked himself. Curious, he picked it up and looked at the front. "That's strange. I haven't seen handwriting like this since... No, but it couldn't be from her. Could it?" He continued to stare at the handwriting. He just couldn't believe it. It couldn't be from her; she hadn't written to Shifu in years. Still, there was an uncanny resemblance. He had seen some of the haikus that they exchanged with each other and her handwriting _was _unique. He continued to stare at it until he came to the door that lead to Master Shifu's room. He hesitantly opened the door and saw him meditating amongst a semicircle of red candles.

"You don't have to be so hesitant all the time, Zeng," he told him.

"Uh, sorry for disturbing you, Master Shifu, but there's a, um, message for you. I think you want to read it."

Shifu raised an eyebrow as he got up and turned to his friend. "And why is that?"

"Well, because I... I think..."

"You think what?"

"I think it's from her."

Shifu's blue eyes seemed to suddenly light up in a way they haven't done in years. "Her?," he gasped. He ran up to Zeng and immediately took the envelope he had and looked at the front. The handwriting was unmistakable. He gently smiled as he held the letter to his chest. He gently closed his eyes as he excitedly whispered the only name that had ever made him feel this way.

"Vanilla."

* * *

**_Alright, I know this may get confusing, so I will help clarify some differences between what has happened in this universe._**

**_1: Po is still the Dragon Warrior, and the Furious Five are all the same, but with some age alterations. Tai Lung is also with them because in this universe Po had given him the chance of redeeming himself and he took the chance._**

**_2: The amount of time that Tai Lung spent in Chor Gum Prison before escaping in this story is 7 years rather than 20._**

**_3: Tigress and Tai Lung were raised together for a short amount of time, and now they are almost like brother and sister, so if you're one of those people who was hoping for some Tigress/Tai Lung fluff, you're gonna have to look elsewhere because the stuff between them in this story is strictly brotherly/sisterly stuff. (And on another note; there's no Shifu/Tigress stuff either, so if you were hoping for that, again, you will have to look elsewhere.)_**

**_4: This takes place a year after the events of Kung Fu Panda._**

**_5: Oogway was the one who taught Tai Lung; Shifu was more like a fellow student and a brother._**

**_Here are the ages of the characters in this story (youngest to oldest, respectively):_**

**_Vanilla Rabbit (in flashbacks): 13-14_**

**_Xang Li Shifu (in flashbacks): 15-16_**

**_Cream Rabbit and Charmy Bee: 16_**

**_Sonic Hedgehog and Miles "Tails" Prower: 18_**

**_Viper: 19_**

**_Po Ping and Tigress: 20_**

**_Mantis and Monkey: 21_**

**_Amy Rose: 22_**

**_Jet Hawk: 24_**

**_Tai Lung and Crane: 25_**

**_Knuckles Echidna and Espio Chameleon: 26_**

**_Rouge Bat: 27_**

**_Big Cat and Wave Swallow: 28_**

**_Storm Albatross: 29_**

**_Vector Crocodile and Vanilla Rabbit: 30_**

**_Zeng, the Temple Goose: 31_**

**_Xang Li Shifu: 32_**

**_Vanilla's Mother, Rosemary Rabbit (in flashbacks): 35-36_**

**_Vanilla's Father, Basil Rabbit (in flashbacks): 39-40_**

**_Po's father, Mr. Ping: 42_**

**_Master Oogway (in flashbacks): 884-885_**

**_Hope that helps._**


	3. A Past Retold Part 2

**_Wow. I have never paid so much attention to something like this before. And thanks again for reviewing, Herr Wozzeck. (And the sooner you watch Kung Fu Panda the better because the characters in it are gonna be further involved in the story from now on. Especially in this chapter.) I'm glad you are enjoying it so far, and I see that I have two new reviewers as well. Welcome, antijet22 and Animation Universe 2005, and thanks for reviewing._**

* * *

_**A Painful Past**_

_Chapter 3:_

_A Past Revealed, Part 2_

"All those boarding have your tickets out now!"

Shifu looked up at the large ship that he would soon be taking to get to America. He had never been anywhere outside of China, so this would be a new experience for him. He grasped the ticket in his hand tightly and proceeded onto the ship. After boarding and being shown to his room, he quietly shut the door and set down his things. He started taking out the things from his bag one by one and set them to where he wanted them, making sure everything was exactly where he wanted it to be. Once he was finished, he looked around the room and gave a slight nod of approval. He then sat on the bed and looked inside the mostly empty bag. The only thing left inside of it was the letter that he had received from Vanilla. He smiled as he gently pulled it out and set it by his side. He reached across from the bedside to the night stand that was placed next to it and picked up his reading glasses. Once he had them on, he couldn't help but look at his reflection in a mirror that was set on a wall on the opposite side of the room and sigh. He couldn't help but to feel like he looked older than he was. He was only thirty-two, but his glasses and the now faded markings on his face made him look twice as old, and his long, white eyebrows, his long, thin, white moustache and his matching beard didn't help him look any younger either. He gave his reflection a frown and a sigh.

"I sure don't look sixteen anymore," he mumbled to himself. Not wanting to think of his aging looks, he shifted his attention to the letter. He carefully removed the letter from its envelope and started to read it again.

_Dear Xang,_

_This is your old friend, Vanilla. I guess you never expected to see or hear from me again, did you? Well, I guess that makes two of us. I know you must be very busy at the Jade Palace, but I felt that I just had to contact you after so many years, even if it is just once. I've been thinking about you a lot recently, and I was hoping that we could get in touch be it by mail or in person. There's so much that I'd like to talk to you about! If you do get this letter, please respond. I would love to hear from you again._

_Love always,_

_Vanilla Rabbit_

He smiled as he carefully placed the letter back in its envelope and set it by the night stand with his reading glasses on top of them. Once he did, he laid on his side and rested his head on the pillow as he stared at the ceiling. He had read it almost a dozen times since he had gotten it, never aloud nor in front of anyone else with the exception of Zeng. Whenever he read it, he always tried to picture Vanilla's voice saying it and he would try his best to visualize what she looked like now. For sixteen years he had had been thinking about her in the back of his mind; where she was, what she looked like now, what kind of work she might be doing, little things like that. He sometimes even thought about if she was seeing someone else. The thought made him frown. He never liked thinking about it, but he couldn't deny the fact that since they had been apart for so long that it was very possible for her to have found someone else to spend her life with; she might even be married and have children already! Then again, if she was married then why would she be sending him a letter signed with 'Love always'? Perhaps when she wrote 'Love' she was just regarding him as a very good friend and the way he was reading it was with a sign of infatuation that she did not originally intend. But how could she remember him as just a friend, after what happened between the two of them all those years ago? Maybe she just considered their time together as some sort of rebellious fling that her father would never approve of. No; she wasn't like that. Besides, even if she was or if she did consider it as nothing but a fling, then why would she bother writing to him so many years later? A guilty conscience, perhaps? Shifu closed his eyes tightly and rubbed his temples. This was all very confusing for him.

_Clink._

Shifu's ears perked up. There was a small, clinking noise that usually accompanied two glass items coming in contact with one another, but this noise came from a certain part of his room. He opened his eyes and lifted his head. He listened carefully to see if he would hear it again and find out what part of his room it came from.

**_Twump! Crash!_**

_"Oh shit!"_

Now knowing where it came from, Shifu lifted himself from off of his bed and opened the bathroom door to find Po falteringly trying to pick up the broken remains of the top of a small glass jar that held some cotton balls by the side of the sink. When Po saw his master, he immediately froze. "Hi, Master Shifu," Po laughed pathetically. "I, uh, I bet you're surprised to see me, huh?"

Shifu stared harshly at the panda. "Po, what are you doing here?!," he shouted. "You are supposed to be back at the Jade Palace with Tai Lung and the Furious Five!"

Po brushed the glass lid's remains next to the glass jar. "Yeah, I know we're supposed to be back at the palace, but-"

"What do you mean 'we'?!"

Po gasped and put his paws over his mouth. "Oh crap," he whimpered. "Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap! I wasn't supposed to say that!"

"And why is that?!"

"Because Tigress told him not to, like she told all of us," a male voice from behind him explained. Shifu turned around to find two of his other students, Mantis and Viper, reveal themselves from under his bed.

"Tigress?!," he shouted.

Viper nodded. "She was curious about why you were leaving, so she decided to follow you," she explained.

"And we didn't want her to go alone, so we all came with her," Mantis added.

Shifu frowned. "So you mean to tell me that the rest of the Five are here as well?!"

"Uh, actually, the rest of the Five and Tai Lung," Po corrected weakly.

Shifu slapped his hand against his forehead and slowly let it drag down his face before removing it when it reached his nose. "Perfect," he groaned.

* * *

Many hours later, Po, Viper and Mantis explained to Tigress, Crane, Monkey and Tai Lung that they had blown their cover and that Shifu now knew of their presence on the ship. At first, Tigress threw a fit to the point of using curse words and threatening to physically harm Po for his idiotic mistake, but the others managed to calm her down and bring her back to her senses. They decided to discuss things with their master over dinner, where Tigress and the others apologised and explained what was going on. The day Shifu received the letter, he told them that he was going away, but he never specified why or for how long and he didn't give any of them a clear answer whenever they asked. Once they had finished their dinner, they all followed Shifu into his room where he sat on his bed and sighed.

"Master, please tell us what's going on," Tigress pleaded.

Shifu looked at the curious faces of his students and sighed. "Very well then," he said. "I'll tell you. Many years ago, I made a friend."

"A friend?," questioned Monkey.

"Actually, she was more than a friend."

"By 'more than a friend' do you mean like a best friend, or a girlfriend?," Crane asked.

"I suppose you could say that she was my girlfriend. You see, I met her during a celebration of the town's anniversary-"

"Awww, how cute," Viper cooed, not meaning to interrupt. She always enjoyed listening to a good love story. "What was her name?"

Shifu smiled. "Her name was Vanilla; Vanilla Rabbit."

Tai Lung's eyes suddenly started to glow with a sudden realization. "I think I remember her," he said suddenly. "She was the little rabbit from out of town, wasn't she? The one with those big, floppy ears who had to stay in her house most of the time?"

He nodded. "That was her."

Tigress shifted her attention to Tai Lung. "You knew her?"

Tai Lung shrugged. "Well, not exactly. I was more of an acquaintance rather than a friend. Her father was a traveling businessman of some sort and he never let her talk to any of the boys whenever she was out of the house since he was afraid that one of them might hurt her."

"Well then if that was true, then how did you two get together?," Po asked.

Shifu chuckled. "She had to sneak out of the house in order to see me, and I always had to sneak out of the temple to see her."

"Ah, so that explains why Zeng was always outside your door when we were supposed to be meditating," Tai Lung said thoughtfully. This was starting to make sense to him now.

"That was it," he answered.

"Man, you guys must've been really close," Mantis said thoughtfully.

He nodded. "Oh yes. We were very close."

Tigress suddenly looked at him concern. "How close?," she asked.

Shifu looked at her with a suddenly serious look on his face. "Very close," he repeated.

"How close is 'very close'?"

The room became silent and everyone seemed to become serious now. They kept switching their glances between Shifu and Tigress, wondering what was going to happen now. After a long moment of silence, Shifu gave in by looking away from the others with a sigh. "The last time I saw her was at night under the Sacred Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom about sixteen years ago. It was on a beautiful spring night, and we were completely alone. I was waiting for her, then when she came, we embraced, we started to kiss, and then she asked me something I'll never forget..."

* * *

_"Xang?"_

_"Yes?"_

_"Have you ever... You know__... Had sex before?"_

_His eyes widened. "N-N-No," he stammered. "No, I haven't."_

_"Oh," she sighed. She slowly let her hands stroke all the way down to his sides as she pressed her nose slightly into his. "Have you ever wanted to?," she asked._

_Xang started to breathe heavily. "I-I-I..."_

_She gently let her hand touch his cheek. "With me?"_

_Now he was starting to break out into a sweat. "W-W-With you?," he repeated._

_"Yes, Xang." She now had both of her hands on his cheeks and she gently rubbed noses with him._

_He gulped nervously and tried to look away. "W-Well, I-I, um..."_

_"Xang?"_

_He looked up at her. "Yes?"_

_"Do you want to?"_

_"You mean... You mean, here, now?"_

_She nodded. "Right here, right now."_

_"But-But what if... What if you-"_

_"I'll be fine, Xang. I promise."_

_Xang tried his best to breathe normally, but he couldn't. "Well, if you want to, then I suppose I-"_

_"Xang?"_

_"Yes?"_

_"Just be gentle with me, okay?"_

_"Okay," he whispered. __Vanilla rolled over next to him and smiled as she gently started to undo her dress from the back. As she removed her dress and set it aside, Xang couldn't help but to stare at her. She was a marvel in the moonlight. She certainly didn't look like she was fourteen. When she looked at him, he turned away and immediately started blushing. "I'm sorry," he apologised._

_"It's okay," she said as she removed her gloves and placed them on top of her dress. She gently placed her hand on top of his and used her other hand to turn his head to face her. "Do you need help?," she asked playfully._

_He was at a total loss for words now. His breathing was fast and his heart was pounding away in his ears. "Um... I, uh-"_

_"I'll take that as a 'yes'," she giggled. She gently put her hands on his shoulders and was about to help remove his kimono when he stopped her._

_"I-I can do it," he assured her._

_Vanilla just backed away and smiled. "Okay, then do it."_

_Still blushing, Xang gently started by removing his arm from one of the sleeves of his kimono then using it to help remove the other one, then once he had it off, he turned again to Vanilla, who must have removed her other garments while he was changing for now she was completely naked. Now he was blushing so much that he could've sworn that his fur had turned a permanent shade of pink, but once again he couldn't help but to stare at her even as he was removing his other clothes. Once he was done, she gently wrapped her hands around his shoulders and kissed him on the lips. When they separated, he shakily asked her, "Are you sure that this is what you want?"_

_She leaned into his chest and gently rested her head on his shoulder. "I'm sure."_

* * *

Shifu's students were all staring at him with wide eyes and astonished looks on their faces. He sat there, glancing back and forth between them, waiting for one of them to speak. After a long and somewhat unsettling moment of silence, Crane finally broke the quiet atmosphere.

"So, you two actually... Well, you know... You, uh-"

"You actually had sex?," Po suddenly blurted out.

Shifu inhaled deeply and with a sigh answered, "Yes."

"Wow," Mantis gasped. "I never figured you for the sex type."

"Mantis!," Viper hissed sternly.

"What? I can't be the only one who was thinking that!"

"Stop that, you two," Monkey whispered harshly.

Ignoring the quarreling of her fellow warriors, Tigress tried to encourage Shifu to continue telling his story. "What happened then, master?"

"As I said, that was the last time I ever saw her. We parted before the sun rose, and the last I saw of her was when she was running down toward the valley and back to her house. A few weeks later, she and her family moved to the United States and she hasn't contacted me since." He paused. "That is, until recently." He reached over to the night stand and showed them all the letter he had received from her. He gave it to Tigress to read aloud, and when she did the others were silent.

"It sounds like she still loves you," Viper breathed after Tigress had finished reading it.

"I hope that's what she's trying to tell me," he said softly.

"Have you ever told anyone else about this?," Tai Lung asked.

He sighed. "Aside from all of you tonight, the only other person who ever knew about this was Master Oogway. I told him about it a few nights later, when he asked me if something was troubling me."

* * *

_A few nights after the night he had with Vanilla, Xang was trying to meditate in his room, but he couldn't concentrate as well as he wanted to. He tried chanting the phrase 'inner peace' over and over again, but it seemed like every fourth or fifth time he either said or came close to saying her name instead. He tried his best not to say it, but it always seemed to slip out somehow. It was very frustrating. __"Don't say her name," he would tell himself, but it wouldn't work. He tried not to think about her in hope that he wouldn't say her name again, but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't bring himself to do it. Whenever he closed his eyes, his mind kept bringing up images of that night and how beautiful she looked. It seemed impossible to get her out of his mind. He was so busy thinking about her that he didn't even notice when Master Oogway stepped into his room until he tapped him on the shoulder with his wooden staff. When he did notice, he immediately rose from his spot, turned to face him and bowed in respect._

_"My young friend," the old tortoise said softly. "You seem troubled."_

_"No Master Oogway, I am not troubled," he said in a slightly rushed voice. "I'm just having a hard time concentrating."_

_"Well then if nothing is troubling you, then why are you finding it so hard to concentrate?," he chuckled. __Xang raised his eyebrows in surprise. He looked up at his master with a curious look on his face. __Oogway just smiled. "Come with me, Xang," he told him. He turned away and slowly made his way out the door where he waited for Xang to come with him. Xang obediently came to his side and shut his door behind him. "Let us take a walk."_

_"Alright, master." __He followed his master out to the grounds, waiting for him to speak. When they were halfway to the Sacred Peach Tree, he finally started to talk._

_"You've been very distracted lately, Xang," he told him._

_Xang looked at him. "Have I? I don't mean to be."_

_"I understand, young one," he said. "But there is something I would like to know."_

_Xang gulped nervously. They were now very close to the peach tree, and the visions of that night were getting more vivid. However, he managed to concentrate fairly well. "What would you like to know, master?"_

_"What I would like to know is why you have become so distracted lately."_

_They were now directly under the tree, and he was now standing across from where he made love to Vanilla. The memories were now so strong that he could almost see the two of them where they were that night. He did his best to shove the thought to the back of his mind while he looked worryingly at his master. "I... I-I..."_

_"Xang? Is there something you want to say to me?"_

_Xang looked down at his feet. "I, uh..." He was starting to sweat a bit. Did he know? No, of course he didn't know! How could he? They were alone that night, he was sure of it! But even if he did know, how was he going to tell him about it? How would he react? Would he be banned from the temple? And if he lied, would he somehow find out or know he was lying? If so, then what would happen? All of these thoughts were racing through his mind at a rapid pace, while his master patiently waited for his pupil to answer. He took a deep breath and sighed as he looked up at the tortoise with a slight fear in his eyes. "M-Master?," he asked shakily._

_"Yes, my young one?"_

_"Would... Would you be upset if I... If I did something... Bad?"_

_"Perhaps; it all depends on what you did." He gave the young red panda a concerned look. "What was it that you did?"_

_"I... I made love to Vanilla."_

_Xang watched his master's reactions carefully. He looked surprised about his sudden confession, but other than that he couldn't detect any other emotion. No fear, no anger, no sadness, no happiness, no pride or shame; just surprise. "When did this happen, Xang?," he asked concernedly._

_"A few nights ago, right here." He motioned to where they were that night when it all happened. He looked worryingly at his master, almost expecting some sort of disappointment or shame to be visibly present within him, but he still showed no sign of any other detectable emotion. For a while, his master did nothing but stare at the spot that he motioned toward. He put his hand over his mouth and stroked his chin a bit. When his master finally looked up at him, he shut his eyes tightly and braced himself for whatever might come next, but to his surprise nothing happened. He slowly opened his eyes and looked at his master, whom only stared back with a slight smile on his face. Xang quizzically raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you going to punish me?," he questioned._

_"Punish you?," the old tortoise chuckled. "For what?"_

_"I-I did something wrong, didn't I? I mean, I lied to you, I broke your rules... And I made a young girl lose her innocence."_

_"Did you force her to lose her innocence in any way?"_

_Xang's eyes widened in shock. "No, Master Oogway! I could never do that to Vanilla! I would never purposefully hurt her! I-" He paused and looked away from him and sighed. "I love her."_

_He didn't look up until his master put his hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see his master smiling down at him. "My young friend; there is no need to punish you for something as unavoidable as love."_

_"But master, I-"_

_"And so long as what you did was an act out of love, then I see no need to punish you for that either."_

_Xang sighed. "Thank you, master."_

_Oogway gave a small nod. "Come, Xang. Let us go back." He started to walk back to the Jade Palace with Xang walking by his side, and as they did, he looked down at him. "And do not worry," he whispered. "Your secret is safe with me."_

* * *

"We never brought up the subject after that," he explained.

"But Master, why didn't you ever tell us about this?," Tigress asked.

Shifu sighed. "Because I was afraid of how you would all react." He looked straight up at Tigress. "Namely you."

"I guess that's reasonable," Po said with a shrug.

Tigress whirled around and glared at Po. "And what is that supposed to mean?," she asked harshly.

Po worryingly backed a few steps away from her. "N-N-Nothing," he stammered nervously. "I-I was just th-thinking out loud, th-that's all."

"Oh really? Because it really sounded like something to me." She started to ball her paws up into fists, but before she could take another step, Tai Lung put his paw on her shoulder.

"Look, we don't want to cause any trouble, so why don't we just go back to our rooms and get some sleep?"

At first, Tigress just turned her head and gave Tai Lung the same look she gave Po, then she turned away and forced his hand off of her. "Fine," she said coldly. "We'll leave."

Each of his students gave a nod in agreement, they all bowed to him before they left, where he bowed to them in return. "We'll see you tomorrow, master," Po said on his way out.

Shifu smiled. "Very well then, Po."

One by one, his students all left for their own rooms, with Viper being the last. She bowed her head in respect, to which he bowed as well. "Good night, master."

"Good night, my student."

She lifted her head and turned to leave, but before she could, she turned her head and asked him something. "Do you think Vanilla will be surprised to see you?"

Shifu chuckled. "Oh, I'm sure," he answered. As Viper closed the door as she exited the room, Shifu turned to his bed and sighed. "I couldn't imagine why she wouldn't be."

* * *

**_Wow, I'm glad I finished that chapter. It would've been up sooner were it not for the fact that my dumb computer freezing up right as I'm typing it out... Well, that and I didn't want to type it out so soon after watching some of the somewhat-depressing movies I've seen recently. (Especially Kramer vs. Kramer.) I wanted to be in a good mood before writing something like this. Oh, and after looking at a few Sonic sights it seems that I have made an error; Vanilla was 20 when she had Cream, not 14. I read somewhere in the Sonic forums that she was 14 (don't know which one though), and I guess I mistook it for the truth. Well, I'm not going to adjust her age for a few reasons:_**

**_1: This is an Alternate Universe fic, so age-tweaking is permissible._**

**_2: Her giving birth to Cream at 14 makes a more interesting story rather than at 20 because at that age there seems to be more at stake at such an age, and the choices seem more critical then as well._**

**_3: I am not going back and editing this whole story again just so I can get their ages semi-chronologically right! I like it the way it is, I ain't gonna change it, and that's that!_**

**_4: I'm kinda lazy, so I don't want to go back and re-edit the whole age list again in Chapter 2. (This is my lamest reason, but I'm just being honest here.)_**

**_Anyway, I hope that you are all enjoying this fic. I'll come back with more later._**


	4. The Rumor

**_It seems as if I'm on a role, here. Okay, response time._**

**_Herr Wozzeck: Thanks, and I hope you like Kung Fu Panda when you finally get to watch it. As for Tigress... Yeah, she's kind of a bitch. And yes, Angelina Jolie did play that flirty bitch of a fish in Shark Tale. (Hey, isn't it weird that she and Jack Black are in two CGI Dreamworks movies together? Soon to be three when KFP2 finally comes out?) And, uh, Mantis is voiced by Seth Rogen, he was... Uh... B.O.B. in Monsters vs. Aliens. (Sorry; I haven't seen Seth Rogen in anything else. At least, not that I know of.) And... OMG! Robot Chicken! _**

**_SoujaGurl: I guess this is a little unexpected, but that's what I like to go for; the unexpected. And yeah, they are gonna meet. It's inevitable._**

**_Magnum Overdrive 20X6: Nice to see you here, man, and thanks for reviewing. As for your sense of possible trouble ahead, you may be right, but how and when it's coming I'm not telling._**

**_Animation Universe 2005: I guess that was a little awkward, but trust me; I felt just as awkward writing it. I've never really written anything like this, so bare with me here, okay?_**

**_MoonLight Inferno: I'm glad you like it, and I will continue as soon as I can._**

**_Anyway, I'm going to focus on the Sonic cast in this chapter, namely Cream and Amy, but there is some involvement with Rouge and Wave (but not like that, you perverts) as well as Team Chaotix. So here goes._**

* * *

**_A Painful Past_**

_Chapter 4:_

_The Rumor_

A few days after her mother had written to her biological father, Cream was happily skipping through the mall on a Saturday afternoon all the way over to the store where Amy was now working. Amy was her best friend, and there was no one else that she would rather talk to about this matter than her. She was always like a big sister to her, so naturally she wanted to tell her everything. She could hardly wait to see her! Her little Chao, Cheese, was flying by her side.

_"Choo!,"_said the little Chao cheerfully.

Cream smiled at her small companion. "Yes, I do feel much better today!"

_"Choo!,"_ he said again. He was glad that Cream was better now. He didn't like it when she was sad because it made him feel sad too. He didn't quite understand why she was so happy or what was going on, but he didn't care. If she was happy, then so was he. Cream and Cheese were now in a part of the mall where Amy worked. Cream looked around to see if she could spot her pink hedgehog friend, and sure enough there she was, staring at a pile of customized T-shirts with a picture of Sonic giving a thumbs up on them.

"Oh Sonic," she sighed dreamily. "One day you will be mine; I know it!" She closed her eyes as she squeezed one of the shirts against her chest. "One day we'll be married, and we'll have kids, and they'll have kids, and we'll live happily ever after for the rest of our lives!" She was so busy fantasizing her dream-life with Sonic that she didn't even notice Cream and Cheese when they walked up next to her until Cream started to talk to her.

"Um, Amy?"

Amy opened her eyes when she heard her name. "Huh?" She turned to her left to see if someone was there, but there wasn't, so she quickly turned to the right and smiled when she caught sight of her rabbit friend. "Oh, Cream, it's you!"

"Were you expecting the Spanish Inquisition?," she teased.

"Oh Creamy, you're so silly!," she laughed. She thrust her arms around her and gave her a quick and friendly hug. "So what are you doing here?"

"Looking for you, of course," she giggled. "I have something I want to talk to you about."

"Oh great!," she exclaimed. "I'll be right with you!" She ran behind the counter where Wave was working and into a little back room. Her voice came out from the little room. "Wave, I'm clocking out a little early today, okay?"

The swallow scowled. "I'm not gonna cover for ya," she said sternly as she came out of the room.

Without warning, Amy threw her arms around her and gave her a hug. "Thanks! I knew you'd understand!" Then she gave her a quick peck on the cheek and released her.

"Yuck!," Wave sputtered as she wiped the cheek Amy kissed her on with her gloved hand. "Amy! What the hell is wrong with you?! Do you _want_ the customers to think that we're lesbians?!"

Amy laughed. "Oh lighten up, will ya? It was just a friend-thing."

"Yeah, tell that to the sick, psychotic bastards out there," she mumbled as she tried to dust off the invisible germs that the pink hedgehog had given her.

Ignoring Wave's last comment, Amy went running out of the mall with Cream and she was gleefully waving to her co-worker as she left. "I'll see you tomorrow, Wave! Bye!"

Wave rolled her eyes and sighed as Amy exited the mall with her young rabbit friend. "Why me?"

* * *

The two friends were now walking together in the park, and Amy was talking about some of the little things that had happened recently in her life. As they walked, Cream became more and more anxious. She hadn't said anything to Amy about her father yet, but she knew that she would get her chance soon. When they finally sat together on a bench, Amy was finally finishing up with the last of her little stories.

"... But in the end Sonic just ran off and left my by myself," she sighed.

"That doesn't seem very romantic to me, Amy," Cream told her. "Are you sure that Sonic likes you the way you like him?"

"Well, of course I'm sure! I mean, why else would he have saved me from Doctor Eggman from all of those times that he captured me?"

Cream shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe he was just being nice."

"_'Just being nice'_? No way! He's gotta be in love me! He's just gotta!"

Cream just shook her head and smiled. "Whatever you say, Amy."

Amy sighed dreamilly. "Yeah." She looked at her friend and smiled warmly. "Well, enough about me. What's going on with you? How's school?"

"School is okay," she told her.

"Are there any guys that you want me to know about?," she asked teasingly.

"Amy," she groaned.

"Or girls, if you're into that. I don't mind."

Cream frowned at her. "Amy, I'm not into girls like that."

"Oh, um, okay. Sorry." Her cheeks were now starting to match the rest of her. "I can't believe I just said that."

Cream smiled. "That's okay; it happens."

"Well then, what's going on with you? Can you tell me?"

"If you give me a chance, I will," she laughed.

Amy smiled. "Okay, okay. Sorry. Won't happen again, I promise."

Cream gave her a quizzical look. "Honestly?"

Amy nodded. "Honestly."

"Okay, I'll tell you." She looked around and to make sure that nobody might be listening to them, and when she was sure, she looked back at Amy and started speaking in a low tone. "When you had History, did you have to do a project about your family tree?"

Amy's eyes widened in surprise. "Yeah, what about it?"

"Well, I told my mom about it and I told her that we have to do both sides of the family; the mother's side _and_ the father's side."

She gasped. "So you finally got to ask her about your dad?"

She nodded. "I did, and she told me everything."

Amy gasped again. "Oh wow! So what was his name?"

"Xang Li Shifu."

* * *

As Cream and Amy were talking on the park bench, a certain bat by the name of Rouge was passing by on the other side of a set of bushes behind them. She was just minding her own business until her ears picked up the sound of their voices.

"So you finally got to ask her about your dad?," she heard Amy's voice ask.

Rouge's ears perked up a bit. "Hmm? What's this?," she asked herself.

"I did," she heard Cream whisper. "And she told me the whole thing."

Rouge turned her head towards where she heard the voices coming from, and she slowly approached them. "Cream's father, huh? This outghta be good," she said to herself. She knelt down by the bushes and leaned in as close as she could to hear more.

"Is that some sort of a Japanese name?," Amy asked.

"Chinese, actually," Cream corrected her. "He was training to be a kung fu warrior the last time she saw him."

"Kung fu? That's pretty cool. So what did he look like? Was he cute?"

"According to my mom, he was. She said he was mostly white with dark brown markings around his eyes, kind of like a raccoon, but their not connected. And he had the same color markings on the tips of his ears as well as inside them, he had the same color rings on his tail and his arms matched them too. He had big ears, bright blue eyes and a cute round nose."

"Sounds a little like Rouge, minus the markings and the eye color," Amy joked.

Rouge frowned. "And what's wrong with that?," she whispered harshly.

"Well, anyway, Mom said that he was a total gentleman. She said that he always seemed to be worried that he would somehow hurt her, and that he would sometimes stutter a little when he got nervous."

"Oh, that's so sweet! But I don't get it; if he was such a gentleman, then why did he just dump your mom like that? Did he just seduce her into getting what he wanted and just run off afterwords?"

"Amy, that's not how it happened," Cream whispered harshly.

"Well then what _did_ happen?"

Cream sighed. "The night that I was conceived, my mom ran back home and got busted by her dad, so she was forced to stay in the house for the rest of the time they were there. A few weeks later they moved to D.C. and she hasn't contacted him until recently."

"So wait a minute. You're telling me that your own father doesn't even know that you exist?!"

"Exactly."

"Wow," she breathed. "Cream, I had no idea."

"Neither did I."

"I'm so sorry, Cream," she apologised. "If I'd have known that, then I wouldn't have-"

"That's okay, Amy. I understand."

"So, did she tell him about you?"

"Of course not! She doesn't want to scare him with too much information yet!"

"Well, she's going to have to tell him about you eventually!"

"She will, but she'd rather tell him in person rather than by letter."

"In person?"

"Yeah. That is, if he gets the letter she sent him."

"Wow. I sure hope he gets it."

"Yeah, me too."

Rouge carefully rose up from her spot and smirked as she walked away. "So, poor little Creamy's daddy doesn't even know about her?," she said to herself. "Well, that's quite the story. Wonder if anyone else would be interested in hearing it."

* * *

Later that night, the Babylon Rogues were sitting around at a bar. Jet and Storm were shooting a game of pool and Wave was just sitting on a bar stool watching them shoot it out. Storm took a shot, but he accidentally hit it the wrong way and made the cue ball bounce over the one he was trying to shoot and caused it to duck down into the corner pocket. "Damnit," he mumbled.

"Butterfingers!," Wave shouted.

Storm turned and glared at her. "Shut up, will ya?! It's not as easy as it looks!"

"Oh yes. I forgot how mentally challenging this game can be," she said sarcastically.

"Oh yeah? Well it was a better shot than the one you probably would've taken!" he retorted.

"Oh really?!"

"Yeah, really!"

"Guys, cut it out, will ya?! You're acting like five year olds!," Jet shouted.

"Yeah, well she started it!," Storm shouted as he pointed a gloved finger at her.

"I did no such thing!," she yelled defensively.

"Shut up! The both of you!," Jet boomed.

"Yeah, Wave. You don't want to waste that pretty voice of yours yelling at men when you could use it to turn them on," said a voice from behind them. The three Rogues turned to see Rouge casually walking up to the bar and sitting down next to her swallow friend.

Wave smiled. "True," she said calmly as she leaned her back against the bar. Jet and Storm gave the bat and the swallow a strange look, but after a while they just shrugged it off and got back to their pool game. Once they did, Wave turned to Rouge. "So what's up?"

"Oh, nothing," Rouge said with an obviously false innocence.

"Come on, tell," she insisted with a fake punch to the shoulder.

"Well, I did hear the most interesting thing earlier in the park today, but you probably don't want to hear that."

"Ah, come on, Rouge! Quit messin' around and tell me!"

Rouge smirked. "Alright, if you insist. Now tell me; can you keep a secret?"

Wave smirked. "Depends on the story."

Rouge's smirk soon widened into a broad grin. "Perfect."

* * *

Soon enough, Rouge relayed the story to Wave, and she told Jet and Storm, among other people, and after that it slowly started to spread around. Somewhere along the line, Espio somehow got word of the rumor and ran back to tell Vector about it. However, he wasn't exactly sure how he would react to it. Vector had what he considered a crush on Vanilla for a long time now, about ten years to be exact, and he never really gave any serious thoughts about Cream's unknown father. Hell, before this rumor started nobody was even sure if her father was even alive anymore! But this... This might change everything. Espio slowly approached Vector from behind. He didn't hear him because he was playing the music on his headphones so loud that he could barely hear anything else. He slowly inched closer and closer until he was only a few inched behind him, until-

**_"VECTOR! ESPIO! GUESS WHAT?!"_**

A hyper, teenage Charmy buzzed in from seemingly out of nowhere and was hovering right in front of Vector's face! He startled Vector so badly that he fell backwards out of his chair and onto Espio, losing his headphones in the process. Vector groggily lifted himself up off of the floor, grabbed his headphones and stood up. "Charmy! I told you not to do that!," Vector bellowed at the excitable bee.

Charmy hung his head down in shame. "Sorry," he apologised. Then he quickly looked up again. "But there's something that I just gotta tell you guys!"

"Can't it wait?," Vector groaned as he lifted the chair and put it back.

"No, no, no, no, no!," Charmy buzzed urgently. "You have to hear this right now!"

Vector sighed as he sat back down in his chair and put his headphones back on. "Okay, Charm. What is it that we _have_ to know?"

"It's about Cream's dad! They say he's alive and that he might be coming back!"

Vector's eyes widened. "What?"

"Yeah, I heard that too," Espio told him. "He's supposedly some sort of a weird, white raccoon thing that lives in China. They say that he's a certain type of special kung fu master."

Charmy nodded. "Yeah, yeah! And they're saying that she and her parents left for the U.S. before he could find out that he was Cream's dad!"

"You mean, he doesn't know that he's a father?," Vector questioned.

Charmy nodded. "Uh-huh. That's what they're saying."

"And that's not all. As Charmy said, they say that he might be coming back to see her soon," Espio added.

Vector kept looking worryingly back and forth between Charmy and Espio. "Do... Do you guys think that any of this is true?," he asked.

"I'm not sure what is true or what isn't true," Espio admitted. "But there's one thing for sure; whoever this guy is has had recent contact with Vanilla through a letter that she sent him."

Vector lowered his head, closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. He never gave any real thought to who might be Cream's father, nor had he thought of what might happen if he came back. This was all very sudden for him.

"So what are we gonna do, Vector?," Charmy buzzed inquisitively.

"I... I don't know, Charmy. I'm not even sure if there's anything we _can _do about this." He opened his eyes and turned to Espio. "Do you think that either Vanilla or Cream knows about this?"

"Probably not. I doubt that someone would talk to them about this."

"Well then maybe we should ask them," Charmy suggested.

The crocodile frowned. "Are you crazy? They're probably under enough stress already! They don't need a rumor to bother them now!"

The bee's antennae drooped. "I guess you're right," he admitted. "But then what are we gonna do about this? We just can't sit here and wait for it to go away!"

Espio put his hand on his chin and thought quietly for a moment. "Maybe we could do our own investigation of this and see how much of it is true."

Vector turned to the chameleon. "Do you think we can?"

He gave the crocodile a solemn nod. "We can try."

* * *

**_Arrgh, that was without doubt the least fun chapter I've written. Seriously. I had the hardest time thinking of what everyone would say and do and keep them all somewhat in character. (Though to be honest, writing Charmy's parts and Amy's parts were fairly easy. But Espio! Ugh!) Plus, I kinda just wanted to get this whole "Vector finds out" deal out of the way. Sorry if you don't like this chapter. Happy Independence Day. :P_**


End file.
